Does the end justify the means? Can it sometimes be right to use a bad means to achieve a good end? Don't the conditions of human life require some shadiness and deceit to achieve security and success?

First, let's try to understand the sense in which the word "justifies" is used in the familiar statement that "the end justifies the means." After that we can consider the problem you raise about whether it is all right to employ any means - good or bad - so long as the end is good.

When we say that something is "justified," we are simply saying that it is right. Thus, for example, when we say that a college is justified in expelling a student who falls below a passing mark, we are acknowledging that the college has a right to set certain standards of performance and to require its students to meet them. Hence, the college is right in expelling the student who doesn't.

Or, to take another example, if a man refuses to pay a bill for merchandise he did not receive, we would say that he is justified. He is in the right. But if a signed receipt can be offered to show that someone in his family received the merchandise without informing him, the store would be justified in demanding payment.

Now, nothing in the world can justify a means except the end which it is intended to serve. A means can be right only in relation to an end, and only by serving that end. The first question to be asked about something proposed as a way of achieving any objective whatsoever is always the same. Will it work? Will this means, if employed, accomplish the purpose we have in mind? If not, it is certainly not the right means to use.

But the purpose a man has in mind may be something as plainly wrong as stealing or murder. With such an end in view, he may decide that certain things will help him succeed and others won't. While he would be right, from the point of view of mere expediency, in using the...

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How you go about doing something is as important as what you end up doing. If you use illegal mean to accomplish a legal and even desirable result, the good result does not make the bad means you used justifiable. "The ends don't justify themeans" is the classical saying, and there is a lot of philosophical debate about how far this can go. The current debate is whether it is okay to torture somebody if you end up saving people's lives. The hypothetical nature of the inquiry and the doubtful causal assumptions (you would not have saved the lives otherwise, only torture would have worked, etc.) makes the argument, if you'll permit the pun, a rather "tortured" one.
the enddoes not justify the means"?"
that is machievellian..(the prince)...the endjustifies the means..
it is only ethical when the majority gains from the sacrifice of a few...... the end only justifies the means when giving up of a few would save the many....(like mr. spock when he gave up his life to save the enterprise...lol).."sacrifice of one for the sake of the many....is the logical thing to do".....

...Capital Punishment: Does the EndJustify the Means?
If... he has committed murder, he must die. In this case, there is no
substitute that will satisfy the legal requirements of legal justice.There is no
sameness of kind between death and remaining alive even under the most miserable
conditions, and consequently there is no equality between crime and the
retribution unless the criminal is judicially condemned and put to death."
Immanuel Kant.
About 2000 men, women, and teenagers currently wait on America's "Death
Row." Their time grows shorter as federal and state courts increasingly ratify
death penalty laws, allowing executions to proceed at an accelerated rate. It's
unlikely that any of these executions will make the front page, having become
more and more a matter of routine in the last decade. Indeed, recent public
opinion polls show a wide margin of support for the death penalty. But human
rights advocates continue to decry the immorality of state-sanctioned killing in
the U.S., the only western industrialized country that continues to use the
death penalty. Is capital punishment moral?
Capital punishment is often defended on the grounds by the government,
that society has a moral obligation to protect the safety and the welfare of its
citizens. Murderers threaten this safety and welfare. Only by putting murderers
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Second, those favoring...

...The idea that "the endsjustify the means" is very dangerous because not only can it hurt others but it can also damage those who believe in that idea and take action to do it. Some people have a tendency to focus only on the outcomes since they seem much more victorious and glorious than the time they have to spend to reach them. This tendency might tempt one to cheat to get to good ends as quickly as possible. The movie, Cheaters directed by John Stockwell, shows how pursing only a good outcome hinders people from thinking rationally and eventually leads them to dishonesty. Having antagonism against unprivileged circumstances, the students and the new teacher at Steinmetz High School finally take wrong paths to grasp their glory. Dr. Plecki who is a is so passionate about his students' success, eventually becomes blinded by his own desire for glory and honor. Jolie Fitch, a student at the school who is also passionate about her education also loses her sense of morality in pursuit of her ambition. By demonstrating downfalls, Stockwell reveals the ends do not justify the means and even if a good end is achieved by inappropriate methods, people will eventually suffer from the untruthfulness that has been done.
Although the Steinmetz team and coach's intentions are right, their ways to achieve their dreams instead bring them disgrace at the...

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...﻿
“Twelve Angry Men” – A Critical thinkers Argument analysis.
The search for truth, does the endjustify the means?
Introduction.
The play and subsequent movie “Twelve Angry Men” is an examination of the dynamics at play in a jury room in the 50’s in The United States. The action revolves around the opinions, perceptions, reason and logic of twelve diverse characters that are tasked with pronouncing the guilt or innocence of a young man accused of patricide. The extraordinary element is that their finding will determine his life or death. This play was made into a movie in 1957, produced by Henry Fonda who played the lead role and Reginald Rose who wrote the original screenplay. This essay will explore some of the elements of Critical thinking found within the context of this remarkable movie, and will show that rational reason and logic when used effectively can overcome the mostly ineffective rush to judgement that can be prevalent in a population. Those elements will include:
Argument Analysis
Most effective/least effective Critical thinker
Morality (persuasion, obedience)
Within the movie, it can be seen that persuasive argument is employed by one single juror to help sway the majority to believe his analysis of the evidence presented, He sets on a course to reach out to each juror and improve their thinking by reasonable and justified persuasion,
Chaffee (2011)...

...the way he portrays his main protagonist, Jay Gatsby and the eventual demise of Gatsby as he pursues his American dream, through illegal means. Through the portrayal of characters such as Jay Gatsby and Myrtle Wilson, coupled with their eventual demise of these characters that sought to achieve the American Dream, we are able to see the fact that Fitzgerald does not subscribe to the saying that the endsjustify themeans.
Fitzgerald’s opinion on the end not justifying the means is clearly reflected through the main protagonist of the novel Gatsby. Gatsby’s “end”, was to achieve his American Dream which revolved around both attaining the social status he had longed for as well as getting the love of his life Daisy back. The phrase “American Dream” was coined during the early days of America by Benjamin Franklin who proposed this dream as, “That pursuit of a better existence.. [and] a higher quality of life through hard work, determination, and devotion.” Gatsby temporarily achieves his American Dream of wealth and status, through illegal and immoral means by bootlegging during the Prohibition Era. However, the irony of the entire situation lies in the fact that Benjamin Franklin had entitled the section in his autobiography for achieving the American Dream “Moral Perfection”. Gatsby had attained all that he had hoped for through immoral...

...all.
Socrates is accused of misleading the youth, and perhaps under developed minds however, in his defense he basically states that if someone asked you what I have said or done wrong that, that person would be silenced. Furthermore, Socrates states that the accusing in an attempt to protect their pretence will repeat the ready-made charges to refresh the minds of the people and making the worst appear to be the better cause. Which in turn, covers up the truth of the situation.
Someone who states that he should be ashamed of a life he is leading because it is going to bring him to an untimely end further accuses Socrates. In response, Socrates states that man is good for absolutely nothing in life except for the choices that they make, good or bad. In essence, Socrates is trying to say that the consequences of making the right choice has led him to a life that will end untimely and for this he is not ashamed.
The trial of Socrates is symbolic for a battle between good and evil, between the accused and the accusing. Socrates in essence, believes in god and is too wise for his own good. Throughout whole trial he spoke nothing but the truth however, because of the greed and jealousy of men they convicted him other wise simply because of their own intentions. Furthermore, searching for the truth couldn't be possible because of the reality of the situation: Socrates was considered the wisest man, people in an act of evil wanted to...

...focusing on whether the endjustifies the means of experiments conducted on animals for the development of drugs for humans. There have been many discoveries developed through this process, although there are also many negative outcomes this method has encountered (Cohan & Regan, 2001). This essay will discuss the human benefits received and the negative impacts on both humans and animals. By analysing these three aspects, the evidence provided will evaluate whether the enddoesjustify the means of this method.
The development of various drugs have been assisted by animal testing which has saved numerous lives and become medical discoveries. Animal models have been used in animal laboratories to manipulate their bodies and induce the symptoms of the specific disease which is attempting to be cured. After gaining those symptoms, potential drugs are given to these creatures in order to reveal the effect of the drug. A successful example of this is a case of testing drugs for Parkinson disease. Initially, the mice were induced with the symptoms of the disease. The data received from these experiments revealed the cause of the disease which was the lack of an essential substance of the brain, dopamine (Vogel, 2007). Drugs were developed based on this information, and became a well known cure of this disease. It successfully worked in human bodies and translated into a number...

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